Architects to report on city police station space needs

Saturday

Aug 2, 2014 at 2:00 AM

PORTSMOUTH — If city officials decide to move forward with a plan to build a new police station, they might have to erect a three-story structure that would include a "police department parking garage and firing range," according to a report on the department's space needs.

Jeff McMenemy

PORTSMOUTH — If city officials decide to move forward with a plan to build a new police station, they might have to erect a three-story structure that would include a "police department parking garage and firing range," according to a report on the department's space needs.

Pointing to the "land constraints in downtown Portsmouth," the report — prepared by Lavallee Brensinger Architects in Manchester and the Architects Design Group from Winter Park, Fla. — states that "consideration has (also) been given to combining the firing range and the fleet maintenance program components into a two-story stand-alone structure."

The report is scheduled to be presented to the City Council on Monday.

The study estimates that a two-story structure would be roughly 178,000 square feet and include the headquarters, a parking garage and a firing range, while the three-story option would be roughly 168,000 square feet with the same elements.

But the authors of the report declined to estimate what a new station would cost, saying, "without critical information from the site selection and master planning process, it is impossible to create a useful conceptual project budget."

"Land procurement, number of building stories and site development costs greatly impact the overall project cost," the report states.

Police Chief Stephen DuBois said it's too early in the process for the department to start looking at potential sites.

"We're taking it step by step," DuBois said.

Choosing a site for a new police department will be "a community decision" as much as an "internal discussion," DuBois said Friday.

"We have no aspirations to rush into something without giving it a lot of thought and also including a lot of people in that discussion," DuBois said.

The architects advised against trying to renovate the existing police station — which is located in the former Portsmouth Hospital — because any project would include demolition of the existing station, which would likely lead to having to renovate parts of the adjacent City Hall, according to the report.

Other additional costs to doing a renovation include "but are not limited to temporary headquarters, moving the department twice, out of the current into a temporary facility, back from the temporary facility into a renovated facility," according to the report.

The report details what its authors see as the problems at the current station, which they say "are primarily the result of the law enforcement program being forced into an existing hospital footprint," leading to a poorly organized facility.

In addition, there is an "ongoing rodent infestation" in the station, windows leak and there is no security outside the station for police vehicles or police officers.

Because of the age of the building — DuBois described it as a "very old building" — it's impossible to totally seal it off.

He noted they caught a rat in the station last week "about the size of the cat."

"Police officers and their equipment tend to be high-profile targets," the report states.

Tires have been slashed and cars vandalized, and one suspect who was arrested, "hid out back and waited for the arresting officer to exit, and challenged him," after the suspect was released, according to the report.

The numbers of officers working in the station has dropped, according to the report, from 92 to 81 since fiscal year 2000.

Members of the Police Commission and DuBois will attend Monday's council meeting, which is scheduled to start at 6:15 p.m. in City Council Chambers, according to City Manager John Bohenko.

"As the City Council will recall during the budget process, the City Council asked that prior to any additional work being done on this project that a presentation be made to the City Council to update the council regarding the work completed to date," Bohenko said in a memo to the council.

DuBois said there's $50,000 in this year's budget for "site location and concept design," but he wants to keep the council updated on the process.

Asked if he thought the recent developments in the dispute over Geraldine Webber's will would impact Monday night's discussion, DuBois said, "I would hope that people would be smart to differentiate between the two," he said.

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